3D printing rubber gloves

Currently, glove manufacturing relies on large production lines, making the process time-consuming, energy-intensive and resulting in a lot of synthetic material waste. In contrast, the 3D printing method developed by Cranfield is more scalable and easier to tailor to smaller production quantities. It requires less space than a traditional full production line, and uses natural rubber which has the potential to offset the carbon emissions of the manufacturing process and biodegrade quickly.  

“This is a novel manufacturing technique we’ve been developing and refining for some time in conjunction with our partners Meditech,” said Dr Eva Peláez-Álvarez, Research Fellow in Advanced Materials at Cranfield University.

“There are so many benefits to migrating from traditional production line manufacturing to this type of 3D printing. Production is much more focused and customisable, and you can even scan people’s hands to make personalised gloves just for them. On top of all that you can do it more sustainably with less material wastage.”

Breaking the mould

Traditional glove manufacturing uses the dipping method. This uses moulds – called formers – that are dipped into multiple baths during the process, with the gloves needing time to dry between each step.

3D-PEP – the 3D printer for elastomeric products – instead sprays the rubber onto the mould, while simultaneously heating the glove from both inside and outside to vulcanise the gloves into the final product. Manufacturing this way not only gives the ability to tailor the properties of the gloves, such as increasing thickness in specific areas, but also provides flexibility in production. These changes can be made by altering the instructions given to the printer, whereas the traditional method must be planned end-to-end even before the production line is constructed with little to no room for changes during manufacturing.

The 3D-PEP method also offers greater control over batch size. Because traditional methods involve thousands of formers and a huge production line, small batches would be extremely expensive. With 3D printing, you can have dozens of printers all making slightly different gloves and easily alter glove specifications whenever needed.

For industry, this means gloves can be made in smaller batches and opens the opportunity to create custom-made gloves for anyone who has specific requirements such as surgeons, who wear gloves for hours at a time and need them to be as comfortable as possible.

Increased sustainability

Environmentally, using natural rubber latex for gloves is more sustainable than using synthetics at both ends of the process. Cranfield University researchers specifically chose to use natural rubber because of its sustainability.

Natural rubber comes from trees which organically absorb CO2, meaning that planting more rubber trees moves production towards net zero for emissions, and over time could even become a net positive, removing more CO2 from the atmosphere than production generates.

The other positive comes at the end of life. Synthetic rubber gloves degrade over 100 times slower than natural rubber, and some types even need substances added before they can degrade at all. In contrast, natural rubber can degrade in a year and, given that billions of gloves are produced worldwide annually, that means significantly fewer damaging materials left in landfill.

Part of the reason the glove industry has relied on synthetic material is allergies. Natural rubber latex contains a protein that causes an allergic in susceptible reaction when it comes into contact with the skin. But modern technology means that protein can be isolated and ‘switched off’, meaning the material can be used without causing that reaction.

“Now that we have proved this method in glove manufacturing, we’ll be looking into how it can be adapted for other industries as well,” continued Dr Peláez-Álvarez. “There are plenty of other areas in which this method could be of benefit.”

Increased resilience

As well as the material, manufacturing and sustainability benefits, making rubber gloves in this way also brings the benefit of supply chain resilience. Most of the glove manufacturing industry is based in Southeast Asia, and reliance on one area means that should something go wrong then supply can suffer very quickly – as demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic.

3D printers are far smaller than whole production lines, and glove manufacturing can begin as soon as the printers arrive rather than a long lead time while production lines are being built. That means factories can be smaller and production is more viable in comparatively space-poor cities in Europe.

This doesn’t solve availability of the raw material, as Southeast Asia is also the world’s largest producer of natural rubber. Alternatives to natural rubber that could be produced in Europe are currently being explored, most notably using sources like the Russian dandelion and Guayule. Being able to make gloves in various locations would ease the strain on the hub in Asia, and disruption of cargo routes wouldn’t be as impactful on operations.

www.cranfield.ac.uk